IT may prove to be no bad thing that Egypt's new prime minister, Hisham Qandil is a virtually unknown figure, even inside his own country, where he served in the post-revolution caretaker government as the water minister. President Mohamed Morsi has made it clear that one reason for Qandil's selection is that he has no party affiliations and no commitment other than to the revolution and the building of a democratic state. However, choosing a US-trained water engineer to put together a government is not without risks. If Qandil mainly chooses fellow technocrats, not least for the all-important economic and finance portfolios, he runs the danger of assembling a government team which will lack in political support what it gains in expertise. There are some extremely big issues to be addressed, not least the dismantling of subsidies. Some would argue that there will never be a better time than now, to do away with the crippling cost and major economic distortion of the subsidy system on fuel and basic foodstuffs. It could also be the case that a government of experts, rather than party-based politicians, is better placed to take an ax to subsidies, because they have far less to lose. Had Morsi chosen an avowedly political figure to form an administration, there would have been an understandable reluctance to take a leading role in what will prove to be a highly unpopular move. Slashing subsidies will almost certainly cause severe political damage to whichever party is brave enough to try it. This said, given the dissolution of parliament by the Supreme Constitutional Court and the calling of new elections, there is currently something of a political vacuum. The court blocked an attempt by the president to recall parliament. The parties are therefore gearing up for a new election. This will be held under a new election law, free from the drafting flaws that caused the first vote to be declared null and void. In assembling his ministerial team, Qandil will have to consider ways to include party politicians, be they from the moderate Islamist or liberal side of the political spectrum, if only to ensure that his government does not appear divorced from the will of the people. The president has promised that the government will be “inclusive", embracing all parts of society, including women and Christians. Qandil may well go for a large number of portfolios, calculating that the wider its base, the more likely his administration is to be supported by the new parliament, when that is elected. Yet he ought to be thinking that his team will be sufficiently hard-nosed and determined to tackle the urgent economic and financial issues which now bedevil the country. Those who are questioning the president's choice of a 50-year-old water engineer to oversee major changes at such a critical time in the country's history, are overlooking the powerful symbolism of the choice. The Nile and its waters have been Egypt's lifeblood for thousands of years. Moreover, it was the work of water engineers that built one of the world's great civilizations.
